Holiday travelers scramble to get home ahead of winter storm, blizzard conditions in Midwest

Holiday travelers in the Upper Midwest were scrambling Sunday to make it home ahead of a major winter storm expected to bring heavy snow, strong winds and travel headaches to a wide swath of the region including Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports.

The National Weather Service says the storm could produce blizzard conditions in the hardest-hit areas Sunday, forecast to be the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving weekend.

Widespread snow of 6 to 12 inches can be expected across the area with up to 18 inches possible in parts of Iowa into Illinois, the National Weather Service warned.

Heavy snow was forecast for the Chicago Metro area later Sunday, raising prospects of flight delays and cancellations at O'Hare International Airport, a major hub. Airlines delays in or out of Chicago would, in turn, also have a ripple effect throughout the nationwide system.

"It has been snowing for awhile in the Rockies, but it's headed to Chicago," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker said. "It will snow this afternoon and tonight, and the heavy winds will bring blizzard-like conditions."

The snow dropped almost 10 inches in parts of Idaho and Wyoming on Saturday night into Sunday. Jackson, Wyoming, was hit with nine inches.

Walker said blizzard and near-blizzard conditions are likely from Topeka, Kansas, and Omaha, Nebraska, to Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin. Large sections of Interstate 70 and Interstate 80 are likely to become hazardous, he said.

Airline travel will also be hit. Nationwide, almost 500 flights had been canceled and another 77 delayed by early Sunday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Most of the cancellations were in Chicago, but Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines were among other airports also hit.

Heavy snow could also create delays for travelers into and out of airports in Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The weather led most major airlines to waive change fees as well.

The fast-moving storm is also expected to drop snow on parts of upstate New York and Northern New England into Monday.

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